Piccolo Play (in homage to Couperin) by Thea MusgraveFor Piccolo and PianoDuration: 14:00

The titles of the movements of Piccolo Play are all taken from harpsichord pieces of Couperin. In each movement, the piccolo is the protangonist of the title and the piano provides the "setting" or background. Thus, in L'Amphibie the piano represents the pool on which the frog leaps from leaf to leaf, disturbing the water as he goes. In Le Reveil-matin the piano is the one who sleeps and the piccolo the alarm clock who forces him to wake up. In la Pateline (the wheedler), the piccolo is softly insistent, but ultimately becomes angry as his pleas are disregarded. Le Bruit de Guerre was suggested by Manet's The Fifer. Here both instruments okay march music with the piano also suggesting the bass drum and the snare drum accompaniment. The combination of different marches becomes increasingly anarchic and innocence is overwhelmed. The end is silence with distant echoes of the Dies Irae.